for car enthusiasts

Top 3 Electric & Hybrid Cars For Business

Many fleet managers have a tough job of trying to keep a balance between leasing suitable executive and mid-range cars for company employees, and choosing models that offer good fuel economy and low ongoing costs.

But one thing that many companies are starting to see the advantages of is investing in electric or hybrid cars for their fleets. They cost little to no money for vehicle excise duty (i.e. car tax) and benefit-in-kind taxes are low.

At the moment, purely electric cars don’t tend to offer a huge range before requiring a recharge, but they are perfect for those that only do local journeys.

And if you have hybrid electric cars – basically those with electric motors and small petrol or diesel engines – then the range will often match quite a lot of purely petrol or diesel cars on the roads these days.

Here is my pick of some of the best electric and hybrid cars that you should be considering for your business:

Vauxhall Ampera

The Vauxhall Ampera (also known as the Opel Ampera in Europe and the Chevrolet Volt in the United States) is a car that is known as a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle.

It provides the car with its primary power from an electric motor which that is primarily powered by a 149 brake horsepower electric motor.

The clever thing about the Vauxhall Ampera is that once the electric charge begins to drop to a particular level, the 1.4-litre petrol engine kicks in and helps to deliver 80 brake horsepower. When the 1.4-litre petrol engine is running, it recharges the system via a generator.

Price: £28,750;

Emissions: 27 g/km;

Fuel economy: 235 mpg (combined);

Car tax: £0.00 (6 months), £0.00 (12 months);

Benefit-in-kind tax: 5% (2014 to 2015), 5% (2015 to 2016).

Porsche Panamera 3.0 S E-Hybrid

For those wanting a practical Porsche that isn’t a big 4×4 and offers excellent CO2 emissions, the Porsche Panamera 3.0 S E-Hybrid ticks all the boxes for fleet managers that need to lease eco-friendly executive motorway stormers for senior management and directors!

It offers a range of up to 22 miles for local driving (great for those that live close to the office) thanks to the electric motor, while the 3.0-litre supercharged V6 engine offers cracking performance and range for long journeys.

Price: £88,967;

Emissions: 71 g/km;

Fuel economy: 91 mpg (combined);

Car tax: £0.00 (6 months), £0.00 (12 months);

Benefit-in-kind tax: 5% (2014 to 2015), 9% (2015 to 2016).

Renault Fluence Z.E.

Fleet managers who take care of older, wholly-owned cars that are in that “I need to sell my company car” phase should consider replacing those gas-guzzling cars with new eco-friendly alternatives such as the Renault Fluence Z.E.

It has a range of 115 miles and is powered by a 94 brake horsepower electric motor.